Van Wolfswinkel: Norwich is going places

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By Alex Ward

The 24-year-old has spoken of the club’s ambition and has revealed that Chris Hughton aims to bring an attacking midfielder and two wide players to Carrow Road in the summer

New Norwich signing Ricky van Wolfswinkel has revealed that the club's long-term prospects were integral in his decision to leave Sporting Lisbon.

Chris Hughton landed the coveted 24-year-old on a four-year contract for a reported fee of 9.4 million euros last week to break the club's transfer record.

And as the club, which is set to become debt free in the summer, inches ever closer to Premier League survival, Van Wolfswinkel believes Norwich has a level of ambition that matches his own.

"The club is in the middle of the table and very ambitious, this summer they will be debt free and will get on strong," Van Wolfswinkel told Voetbal International.

"That a club would spend so much money, in these times, shows their faith in me. I have been to Norwich to look around and spoken to the manager and chief executive over their plans for the future.

"I don't know much about Norwich, but the city and the club surprised me - the stadium has 25,000 [capacity, actually 27,200] and there are 5000 fans on a waiting list for [season] tickets on top of that which shows the status of the club."

The young striker has come under fire from some quarters in Holland for moving to a club so far down the Premier League table, but Van Wolfswinkel revealed that the future plans of Hughton and the club's board were central in bringing him aboard.

The forward added: "The plan is also to bring in an attacking midfielder and two wide players this summer. With that, Norwich can look to play in the top half of the table.

"I want to play as high as possible, but also in a team where there is a lot of perspective - that is what Norwich City has, and that is why I have signed there for four years."